Three-port versus conventional four-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a comparative study

Abstract

Objectives This prospective comparative study aims at evaluating the feasibility of three-port technique without affecting safety and at comparing the outcome of three-port and four-port techniques. Patients and methods This study included 94 patients with symptomatic gallstone disease and gallbladder polyp in Surgical Department, Minia University Hospital, from beginning of 2018 to beginning of 2019. Patients who were unwilling to be a part of the study, jaundiced patients with radiologically evidence of common bile duct stones, patients unfit for general anesthesia, patients with liver cirrhosis, patients with portal hypertension, patients with coagulopathy, patients with acute pancreatitis, patients with generalized peritonitis, or patients with malignancy were excluded. All patients were operated by the same operating team. Patients were randomized for three-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) group (45 patients) or four-port LC group (49 patients). Numeric Pain Rating Scale, operative time, operative difficulty, intraoperative and postoperative complications, duration required to stop oral analgesics, and duration required to return to normal activity were recorded. Results Numeric Pain Rating Scale, required number of diclofenac ampoules, duration required for oral analgesia, and duration required to return to normal activity were significantly less in three-port group. Other parameters were comparable between the two groups. Conclusion It seems that three-port LC is a safe and feasible technique with superior clinical outcomes to four-port LC.